OSAKA (TR) – Prosecutors have demanded a 12-year prison sentence for a man from Osaka City accused of beating his wife to death and disposing of her body, which remains missing to this day, reports Mainichi Broadcasting System (Sep. 29).
According to the indictment, unemployed Yoshifumi Kuroki, 36, fatally assaulted his wife, Izumi, at their home in Chuo Ward in May 2024. He is accused of then loading her corpse into a car, driving to the vicinity of Okayama Prefecture, and dumping the remains.
Despite ongoing investigations, Izumi’s body has yet to be recovered.
During a lay judge trial hearing on Tuesday, prosecutors highlighted the extreme brutality of the attack. “The assault was severe, with the victim screaming for more than an hour,” the prosecution stated, condemning Kuroki’s subsequent attempts to dispose of the corpse and destroy evidence as “highly malicious.”
Throughout the trial, Kuroki has exercised his right to remain silent. His defense team is arguing for a full acquittal, maintaining that he is not guilty of the charges.
The court is scheduled to hand down its verdict on October 20.
